Don’t follow Emma Thompson and take your child on gap year, parents told
Rashid Razaq London Evening Standard
Parents have been warned not to follow the example of Emma Thompson, who is planning to take her 10-year-old daughter out of school for a year to go travelling.
The actress said she wanted to take Gaia on a gap year and “show her the world” before she starts secondary school. But Thompson, 51, and her actor husband Greg Wise, 44, could be stopped by Camden council. Parents have to convince officials that their child will be educated properly if they are removed from school.
The couple send their daughter to a private primary near their home in West Hampstead. Speaking to CNN, Thompson said: “Gaia finishes next year, but I’m going to give her a break from education and show her the world a bit and take a break myself.
“I just thought it was really good timing between those two schools to have a bit of a break.”
Margaret Morrissey, of education campaign group Parents Outloud, said the actress might be wealthy enough to ensure her daughter benefited from private tuition, but most children would find it “extremely difficult” to readjust after a 12-month break.
Mrs Morrissey said: “She might see the world and have a fantastic experience, but she’ll miss an awful lot in a year and will be way behind her peers. A child might not ever properly catch up after a break that long.”
(4 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
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I know of quite a few parents who would like to take their children out of school due to not agreeing with the educational system these days for whatever reasons, but they would still be hounded by the educational system on taking them out.
As long as some basic education is proven with minimum interference by the education system concerning taking a child out of school, parents should have that right to do this, I cannot see why it would be a problem and it should not be a problem to choose this for your own children.
Great idea, strongly support Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. Of course it should not be a middle-class privilege to take children out of school for ‘gap’ purposes nor indeed for home educating, but it is a rather silly argument to say that if a child misses X months or Y years that they’ll irreparably suffer. It depends. Many children, insofar as school is little more than authorised imprisonment would be far better on the outside.
Live and let live.
A year’s travel between infant/junior and senior schools represents a productive and worthwhile choice for any child and family. Autonomous learner led home education is a route I can highly recommend for any family. A shame not everyone can do it for a multitude of reasons. The notion of a child not catching up is ridiculous. She will gain far more than she ‘misses out on’. She may have trouble adapting back to the frequently boring and too-often inadequate learning environment offered institutionally, but no doubt her parents will choose the best that is available for her either in a state or private school, and augment it. Good for them! If they opt out and continue outside the system that could be even better.
There is a peculiar idea that learning happens only in school, and therefore this child will be disadvantaged if she is taken away from that learning environment, even for just 1 year. Having seen and experienced how enriching travel is as a learning experience, I feel that this is a marvellous opportunity. If only more parents were in a position to do this for their children.
The statement “Parents have to convince officials that their child will be educated properly if they are removed from school.” is just factually incorrect. Camden council cannot stop her. This is misinformation on the current state of home education law.
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